Clinton To Address Trade, NATO In U.N. Speech Monday

From CNN White House Correspondent Eileen O'Connor

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Sep. 21) -- Trade and NATO
expansion are expected to be among the items on the agenda
that President Bill Clinton will set out Monday in an address
to the United Nations in New York.

Heading into this speech, Clinton knows, as many of his
predecessors did, that global affairs can offer a safe haven
-- a chance to be presidential, to leave a historic legacy,
to lead unchallenged.

"America has a unique role," says Sandy Berger, Clinton's
national security adviser. "When our national interests are
involved, if we don't lead, very often things don't happen."

The president's speech is expected to make the case for
keeping the peace in Europe through enlarging NATO to include
emerging democracies in central and eastern Europe. He is
also expected to focus on the need for expanding
international trade.

Clinton is also expected to call for improved ties with Asian
countries, stressing engagement, not isolation.

But as he addresses world leaders, Clinton faces critics at
home who believe that his administration has not shown enough
leadership on the world stage.

They cite places such as Bosnia, where the wait for European
leadership and consensus meant a prolonged war with thousands
dead, and Rwanda, where unchecked genocide resulted in the
deaths of more than 800,000 people.

"I think our foreign policy tiger has too few teeth," says
Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo. "We've been able to raise some
issues, but we haven't been able to get any results."

"We should seize opportunities to speak to the U.N., to tell
them where we want to lead the world," says Ashcroft. "And I
believe failure to do that would be a missed opportunity."

White House officials counter that they must negotiate a fine
balance between leadership and bullying.

"We have to be very careful. The United States can't do
everything. We can't be everywhere and we shouldn't. We have
to make sure that our own national interests are involved,"
says Berger.

While White House officials admit some mistakes were made and
opportunities missed, they say those lessons were learned --
and insist that the United States is set to lead
internationally.